Gobber the Belch
Gobber The Belch is a veteran warrior of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, blacksmith of Berk and a long-time friend and adviser of Stoick the Vast. Physical Appearance Gobber is a large, burly man like all the other vikings in the village. He's bald on his head (which is covered by his long-horned helmet) with a dirty blonde braided-mustache and unibrow, crooked nose, big-ears and large jawline. His left arm and right leg were eaten by dragons and replaced with detachable weapons and a wooden leg respectively. He has straps around both his arms (the one's on the left arm to keep the prosthesis attached) and wears burlap and yak fur of varying shades of brown as clothes. Personality Gobber is a viking through and through; big, tough and ready to pounce. He's a jovial character with a snarky, upbeat approach despite losing two of his limbs. Gobber isn't one to hold a grudge, shown to be at peace with the dragons after the Red Death and quickly made peace with the Boneknapper he's contended with since his youth. Like most other vikings, he can be ill-tempered, violent and blunt, requiring a blunt response or he will be unable to pick up on the messages. Unlike the other vikings however, Gobber shows a sarcastic sense of humor that allows him to relate to Hiccup, and acts as a bridge between Stoick and Hiccup as they are unable to properly communicate themselves. It is shown that he has a broad definition of subtlty, adding inconveniently designed weapons to dragon saddles and threatening them with a hilariously-grotesque amalgam of a multitude of weapons as a part of training. He also does not understand the social mechanics that his friend Stoick deals with, failing at every task given to him when made Stoick's right-hand man. Stoick describes him saying "(Gobber) means well, he just doesn't always do well." Powers and Abilities Though not in possession of any super or magical abilities, Gobber has spent his entire life fighting dragons, demonstrating immense strength and weapon skills with nearly every weapon known to viking kind. Gobber is also the village blacksmith and Hiccup's teacher, able to forge anything for the village's needs flawlessly. Weapons In the course of Berk's long wars with the dragons, Gobber lost his left hand and right leg in battle with the creatures. He has managed to replace his missing limbs with a variety of metal prostheses of his own design and creation. This includes three different hammers, flags, hooks, axes, a butter knife, a tankard, an oversized wooden palm, a steel-wool brush, etc. As a blacksmith, he has access to all of Berk's weaponry and is able to produce more to suit the villager's needs. Role in the Crossover Much like the other citizens of Berk, Gobber is left as a minor character in the grand scheme of the fandom. As Hiccup's mentor and friend, Gobber always adds his dry-wit and advice to Hiccup (and maybe the other three) when he is needed. Relationships Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Gobber was always the mentor and second father-figure to Hiccup. Despite acting like all of his other students are expendable or simply paying little attention to their well-being, Gobber seems to have a soft spot for Hiccup. This is obscured, however, by the methods by which he goes about expressing his fondness of the boy. Though his intentions are good, Gobber often gives out comically bad advice that somehow just makes Hiccup feel worse. Most importantly, however, Gobber acts as the bridge of communication between Stoick and Hiccup, since the two seem to be unable to listen to one another otherwise. In fact, Gobber is the one who convinced Stoick to allow Hiccup to enroll in the Dragon Training classes, reminding the latter that he could not always hope to protect Hiccup; the best he could do was prepare him. At the end of the film, Gobber is the one who constructs a new prosthetic tail for Toothless and Hiccup's prosthetic leg. The other important role Gobber filled was training Hiccup in leather-working and as a blacksmith, which gave the imaginative teen an outlet for his mind along with practical design and fabrication skills. If an invention of Hiccup's fails, it's only because inexperience affected the design, never because of faulty parts, or that the parts were poorly crafted. Hiccup's innovation, improvement and engineering of his society's technology for his creations is often nothing short of sheer genius. Jack Frost As a Viking who worships the Nordic pantheon, Gobber would most likely be able to see Jack Frost because of being familiar with the name of Jokul Frosti (Jack Frost's original Scandinavian name). The details of their relationship has not been fleshed out to its fullest, but it can be assumed that they would get along very well. Merida DunBroch Despite whatever animosity the vikings of Berk may have with the Highlanders of DunBroch, Gobber is one of the few who would think little of their history. Gobber's positive attitude and close friendship with Hiccup would get him on her good side. A recurring concept amongst fans has sprouted to where Gobber may actually be scottish (or at least part-scottish) because of his noticably thicker-accent compared to the other characters (specifically the Clan Macintosh, as he and Lord Macintosh have the same voice actor). This is a rather common tool for writers to connect them, giving him common ground with Merida. Rapunzel Corona Rapunzel's relationship with Gobber is seldom touched upon in the fandom. It can be assumed that Gobber's light-hearted social approach would get him on her good-side, but his more violent tendencies would only frighten her. Comparison To The Books Physical Appearence and Personality Gobber the Belch is a six-and-a-half foot tall madman who is tasked with training Hairy Hooligan teens in various skills needed to become a Viking: catching and training dragons, pirating skills, sword-fighting, and rudery. He is incapable of speaking in any tone of voice other than a bellow. He has trained many students that became great warriors, being a capable warrior himself. He normally wears his small shorts. He believes Hiccup's group is the best group he has ever taught. Role in the Books Gobber was also one of the few people to live and tell the tale of him stealing a book from the Meathead Public Library and under the Hairy Scary Librarian's nose also. He was the Hooligan that stole How to Train Your Dragon by Professor Yobbish. Though in A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons, Hiccup steals the second volume of this book. In the tenth book, Gobber is made a slave in the Amber Slavelands when he protested Alvin's kingship. He later joins the Dragonmarkers, and in the eleventh book, he is captured by Alvin and his beard is cut off, the ultimate Viking shame. Concept Art (Concept Art sketched and submitted for original film(s) is credited to Nico Marlett, Carlos Grangell, David Soren and Shane Prigmore) '' Gobber_Concept1.jpg Gobber_Concept2.jpg Gobber_Concept3.jpg Gobber_Concept4.jpg Nico_Marlet_01.jpg '' Category:Characters Category:How to Train Your Dragon Characters Category:Protagonists Category:How to Train Your Dragon Category:Dragon Trainers Category:Sailors Category:Warriors